The Past Is Present
by History101
Summary: Sequel to my story 'Different Effects of the Past.' Almost a month after Danny and Vlad's truce, Amity Park is seemingly ghost free and undergoing a dramatic urban change. How long will the ghosts be able to keep away from the city and from Danny Phantom?
1. Not Enemies?

**The Past is Present**

**Chapter 1: Not Enemies?**

* * *

"Three whole weeks!" Danny lamented as he crossed another day off his outer space themed calendar with a pen. Each day was marked off with a big red cross and this one was no exception. "Not one ghost attack...something's so not right," he muttered.

"Ah, relax, dude," Tucker replied, "Enjoy it while it lasts."

Even when Danny and his friends ventured into the Ghost Zone, no one attacked them, not once and Danny was confused.

"Y'know, you could've used that time for studying, Danny," Sam said, unimpressed. "You're always saying you need to up your grades," she said.

"Well, yeah, I do but..."

"Then let's get started," the goth girl said, lifting up a heavy black handbag. She began unloading school books and dumping them onto Danny's bed. "Better late than never. I got history, science..." she continued.

Danny and Tucker shared an unimpressed look but Tucker then smirked at his friend. "Don't look at me dude, you're the one with the toilet grades," he said.

"Thanks, Tucker," Danny frowned.

* * *

In the last few weeks, Amity Park had undergone some dramatic changes. Billboards for Vlad Co had began to surface all across the city and as well as rebuilding the damage that Undergrowth had caused, he'd also began building a new mall and a handful of shops as well as the office block he'd mentioned to Maddie. The last developer had cut his losses and ran for the hills after Undergrowth's attack so people, the mayor especially, was delighted to have someone else invest so quickly after a ghost attack. However, he had yet to set foot in the city itself. Everyday there was newspaper articles and television reports about 'America's richest billionaire' and everyone was wondering just why the man was investing so much money in the city if he wasn't even going to visit it at all.

"Urgh," Sam bemoaned, holding out her hands dramatically. "Urban blight. So thrilled to live in the twenty first century," she said, dryly as they walked to school the next morning.

"Me too," Tucker smiled, missing her dry sarcasm entirely. "That new arcade in the new mini mall, next to the new hotdog place looks awesome...and new!"

"I know," Danny replied, "Besides, Sam, there's nothing wrong with a little progress."

"Yeah," Tucker said. "I still think Vlad's kind of a jerk but...come on! All this new stuff he's building is awesome!"

"And even you can't complain," Danny smirked at her a moment later. "He's made like a thousand jobs for people in that new office thing he's building downtown and Jazz says they're building a vegan restaurant thing in the new mall, too," he said.

"Yeah...but why?" she asked.

"Dunno...maybe dude's gone vegan," Tucker shrugged and she sighed.

"Not that!" she snapped, "I meant why's he doing all this in the first place?"

"No clue," Danny answered, unhelpfully. "Though, to be honest, I'm more worried about the ghost attacks...or y'know...the non existent ghost attacks. I mean...they've gotta be up to something, right?"

"What, and Vlad isn't?" Sam asked.

"Where is he, anyway?" Tucker asked. "You'd think he be here taking all the glory for all this," he said.

"Yeah," Sam agreed.

"Well...Vikki says he's still in Canada," Danny said.

"You believe that?" Tucker asked.

"I guess so," his friend answered, "He did say that's where he was going."

"And he's never lied before, right?" Sam scoffed.

"Good point," Tucker said.

"Yeah, I know, okay," Danny sighed. "Let's just...get to school," he muttered, scrubbing a hand through his hair as he walked a little faster.

"What's with him?" Sam asked and Tucker shrugged.

* * *

"I can't take it anymore!" Skulked exclaimed, stomping around in his heavy metal boots.

"Don't be so dramatic," Vlad rolled his red eyes and Ember snorted.

"But it's been almost a month and I haven't even..."

"There's literally billions and billions of people and animals and thousands of other ghosts out there for you to hunt. Pick one of them and get to work. Or hang up your hunting gear and grow gardenias and aspidistras for all I care," the hybrid told him, as he'd done several times before.

"But..."

"No," Vlad snapped. "You know what happens if you hunt the boy, Skulker," he warned.

"But..." the ghost began to protest again but as always, a stern look from those infamous blood red eyes was enough to silence him, just about.

"You don't really think this is gonna last forever, d'you?" Ember asked, crossing her arms. "We've all got it in for that brat and there's no way everyone's gonna be able to stay away much longer. All it's gonna need is one of us and then..."

"You really think you could stand up to me?"

"Well...that's not the point," she said, suddenly nervous.

"The point is you'll do as I say or face the consequences," he glared at her and she took a subconscious step backwards. One she realised she'd done it, she tried to glare back but it didn't quite have the same effect on Vlad. He just gave her a small, fanged grin. "I knew you'd see it my way, my dear," he said when she blinked away, breaking eye contact first.

"Whatever, just...don't...don't call me that. I'm no one's 'dear'," Ember shuddered as he continued to grin at her.

"I trust you'll keep everyone in line for me," Vlad said to the exasperated Skulker. "And if you discover anything about the Infi Map you'll..."

"Contact you at once, yes, I know, I know," Skulker sighed.

"Splendid. In the meantime, I have to make my triumphant return to America," Vlad said.

"Your what now?" the hunter blinked, confused but Vlad vanished in a swirl of smoke leaving them both confused and irritated.

"Pushover," Ember muttered to Skulker.

"Oh, and you're not?!"

* * *

"Hey, Danny," Jack yelled cheerfully into the kitchen where his children were sat at the table eating their breakfast before another school day. "Come over here quick, Vladdie's on tv...and he's in the newspaper. He's back!" he said.

"Oh joy," Danny muttered. "Since when did we start getting the paper delivered again? Didn't they scare all the..."

"New guy," Jazz muttered back, rolling her eyes.

"Ah...poor dude," Danny smirked as he uncovered his glass of water and took a sip. Then he and Jazz trudged into the sitting room where their father was excitedly pointing at the tv with Maddie sitting next to him on the sofa.

"So...he's back, huh?"

"Yes, apparently," Maddie nodded. "But so far it mostly just been telling us just how rich he is," she remarked dryly.

"And good looking, too," Jack said.

"It actually said that?" Danny frowned.

"In here, too," Jazz said, after skim reading the large newspaper article and Danny groaned in frustration.

"Just what he needs; an ego boost," he grumbled.

"If you think this is bad, you should've read the special Forbes magazine did about him," Jazz told him.

"No, thanks," he shook his head.

"Have you heard from him at all?" she asked, quietly.

"Nope," Danny answered, quietly.

"Well...at least that means he isn't...planning anything, right?"

"Who knows?" he shrugged, "This is Vlad, we're talking about."

"But he did say he'd think about what you..."

"Doesn't mean he's gonna actually do it. You know how much he...hates dad and...'doesn't hate' mom," Danny whispered back.

"He 'loves' her," Jazz corrected him.

"Ewww," her brother shivered, "That's still gross."

"Grow up, Danny," she lamented. "It's probably not the best idea Vlad's ever had and I'm pretty sure he knows mom loves dad, but you can't help who you fall in love with."

"So, you're some kind of love expert now, huh?"

"No," Jazz scowled, "But if nothing else, you gotta admire his dedication. Even if it is overly obsessive."

"Sure, whatever," Danny said turning back to the tv and then staring in confusion. "Okay...erm...is that...Vlad?" Danny muttered. "Erm...does he look...different to you?"

* * *

Vlad's staged return to American soil may as well have been treated, by the press at least, as a national event. It wasn't every day that private planes landed but most passengers weren't greeted by an army of journalists all with flashing cameras and microphones. Of course, he was used to this by now, it simply couldn't be avoided it if you were a billionaire. But the Vlad Masters they greeted that morning looked slightly different to the one that had left. When he'd left, his thoughts had been consumed by his father and how much he truly hated the man. He wanted to distance himself from Vladislav as much as he could even if that meant changing the way that he looked.

Vladislav Masters had always been pale and so had his son. Unfortunately, he couldn't do anything about that. Any tan he got was quickly seen as an injury by his ghost powers and it was healed instantly. However, there were other things that he could change.

Vlad could always remember his father having long white hair and he'd always taken care of his own long hair until he'd finally cut it because it reminded him too much of the old fool. Now it was shorter and brushed back slightly without being too neat looking. It was still white but there was nothing he could do about that. In the years since his accident he'd tried to dye it black to how it had used to be, but the dyes had lasted for hours if he was lucky before it had reverted back. He could have ghostly eyes as a human, even a ghostly tail, but for some reason if he tried to make his ghostly black hair appear when he was human it just took too much concentration and it would revert back without his intention.

Another thing that he had in common with his father was his dedication to wearing a suit no matter the occasion or weather. He probably owned a few hundred tailor made suits all worth a small fortune. The clothes he was wearing now were no less expensive, but it wasn't exactly a suit. He was wearing jeans for the first time since his college days along with a white button up shirt, managing to make him look both casual and smart at the same time.

* * *

"Ermmm...is he having some kinda...err...midlife crisis or somethin'?" Danny asked as they all stared at the tv.

"Lookin' good, Vladdie!" Jack exclaimed as though Vlad could actually hear him.

"This is just weird," Danny said to his sister.

"He's had a makeover, I guess," she shrugged.

"Vlad?" Danny scoffed.

"People have makeovers all the time."

"But he...but...but...he looks cool!" Danny exclaimed, "This is so not...cool."

* * *

What Vlad had no way of knowing was that his father was watching his decent from the plane and through the airport to his limousine on the tv along with the rest of the country. He also had no way of knowing that Vladislav Masters had the better part of a month to live according to his doctor, and that he was now bed bound for what little remained. Even Rosalyn, his wife didn't know just how bad his condition was because he hadn't spoken to her for over three weeks. She, along with Valya and her daughter were living in Vlad's castle, Valya's father having returned to his wife in Russia.

To Vladislav, it seemed too much like they were now suddenly trying to play at happy families while he lay forgotten about and dying. Not to mention the fact that Vlad was far more wealthy than he'd ever been and the limelight was now all his. It just didn't seem fair at all.

* * *

Several days later, Danny found himself running towards the school with Dash not far behind him.

"FENTON!" Dash bellowed.

"Oh man," Danny panted, "Day's not even started yet and he's already out to get me."

"There's no way you can outrun me, Fenturd!"

"For once, he's right," the hybrid muttered and began looking around for an alleyway or a secluded area where he would be able to go ghost and out fly the jock. "Whoa!" Danny cried, looking forwards and seeing a shiny black Mercedes which he almost ran into, or which almost ran into him depending on how you look at it.

He stopped quickly and turned back to see Dash right behind him. "Oh man, I'm toast," he lamented and went to run off again when a strong hand shot out and caught him by the scruff of his shirt and stopped him from running anywhere. "Hey, let me go!" he yelled, angrily, swatting at the hand as best as he could.

"Calm down, Daniel," a familiar, exasperated voice said and Danny frowned in confusion.

"Vlad?" he blinked and stopped struggling.

"Fentina, you're dead!" Dash grinned as he made his way over but he stopped when he saw Vlad. "Mr...M...Masters, sir?" he stammered, suddenly acting like a frightened child.

Danny didn't blame him. Vlad looked different, there was no question about that, but he was no less imposing. In fact, without his usual suit blazer, the muscles on his arms were far more visible under his white cotton shirt and he towered over most people anyway. Not to mention his eyes had a way of glaring people into submission and Dash was no exception.

"Mr. Baxter," Vlad said with an air of disinterest. "I see you're acquainted with my dear godson, Daniel," he said.

"Your...your...godson?" Dash stammered, gulping.

"Yes," Vlad smiled at him, menacingly.

"...Him?" the teenager exclaimed.

"Yes," Vlad repeated and Dash took a step back.

"I...I...didn't...didn't know...I mean...we're best pals...right, Fenton?"

"Oh yeah...real pals we are," Danny rolled his eyes and straightened the neck of his shirt now that Vlad had seen fit to release it from his hand.

"Heh heh," the quarterback nodded.

"Well, get to class, boy," Vlad told him.

"Err...yes, sir," Dash said and ran off as fast as he could without a backwards glance.

"What the heck was that?" Danny asked when he was gone. "The whole school's gonna know you're my godfather by the time I get there! Like I wasn't enough of a freak already."

"Hello to you too, Daniel, its very good to see you after all this time, and you're very welcome for saving you from that ridiculous oaf by the way," Vlad replied.

Danny sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fine," he muttered. "Hi, unckie Vlad, its only been like a month but hey I really, really missed you too. Thanks for saving me from the big bad quarterback 'cos I've never had to do that before, but thanks anyway. Oh, and by the way, you sorta almost ran me over back there but hey, who cares, right?"

Vlad chuckled at him and it only made him laugh even more when Danny got increasingly frustrated at his amusement. "I'd never run you over Daniel, that's not very creative, is it? Give me some credit," he said.

"That's creepy," Danny replied.

"Well, thank you," Vlad said and opened the passenger door to his car. "Get in, I can't have you being late for school, can I?" he asked.

"...Seriously? I can't turn to up to school in this!"

"Why not? You've just said yourself that everyone will already know that I'm your godfather by the time that you get there. So what's the problem?"

"But...but the...but you...what the heck is going on, this is really weird day," Danny sighed and got into the car without much of a fuss.

.

"So what was that all about?" Vlad asked as he began to drive towards the school.

"Huh?"

"You and that brainless oaf. I take it you weren't competing to see who can run the fastest?"

"Oh...yeah, that, erm no we weren't. I dunno," Danny answered. "Maybe he got up on the wrong side of the bed or he forgot his homework or...something, I dunno. He's always like that."

"And you let him treat you that way?"

"I get my own back...sometimes," Danny shrugged, "How'd you know him, anyway?"

"His mother works for me, she's very intelligent but unfortunately for him, that doesn't seem to be hereditary."

"No duh," Danny muttered. "What's up with you coming to my rescue?" he asked.

"I'm your..."

"Yeah, yeah, my godfather, I get it...but...I thought...we were...I mean..."

"You thought I was coming back to rid myself of my arch enemy?"

"Well...erm...no...but, now you mention it...are you?"

"I'm driving you to school. Now, I'm well aware that teenagers view school as the living embodiment of doom and gloom but I don't think one more day there will be enough to finish you off," Vlad drawled.

"Ooooooookaaaaaaay," Danny droned, "So...no attacking arch enemies?"

"No."

"Huh. So...how was Canada?" Danny asked after a moment.

"Fine."

"Oh," he nodded. "Good...and erm...I gotta ask, ok...what's with the hair?" he asked.

"What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing!" Danny welcomed, quickly, holding up his hands in mock surrender. "Just...erm...you look different, is all," he explained.

"That **was** rather the point," Vlad muttered back, his hands tightening on the steering wheel.

"Sooooo..." the teenager said, nervously. "Erm...we...saw you on tv," he said.

"So did a lot of other people."

"Yeah, they really rolled out the welcome mat for you, huh?"

"If you call a mob of flashing cameras and pushy journalists a 'welcome mat'," Vlad scoffed, "Then yes, they did."

"So, you're like Mr. Popular, right?"

"I have been named billionaire of the year for, oh I don't know...how many years running now?" Vlad grinned, smugly.

"Show off," Danny grumbled. "Anyway...everyone here won't shut up about how great you are since all the," he waved his hand around by the window, "Building stuff. Even Tucker thinks it's all cool."

"Splendid, that was of course my main concern."

"Fruit loop."

"What was it your 'friend' called you earlier? Fenturd? Fentina?" Vlad retorted and Danny sank back into the plush car set and crossed his arms, grumbling to himself. "Quite amusing for someone with the IQ of a monkey," the man said, "I wonder what he'll come up with next."

Danny couldn't help but snort at Vlad's 'monkey' comment even though he was doing his best not to smile. "I can't help but wonder why Jack and Maddie haven't done anything to stop his behaviour," the older hybrid said after a moment.

"Erm...they probably would...if they knew but, well, they don't," Danny muttered.

"I see."

"And it's not like the teachers care. Dash is the best quarterback in the school so he can do whatever he wants."

"Well," Vlad sighed. "But the time you get there, everyone will know that you are my godson; you'll be able to do whatever you want as well. Money will make you exempt from anything far longer than the achievements of a teenage quarterback."

"But I don't want..."

"Letting him get away with his behaviour when you could easily knock him through three brick walls simultaneously is not heroic, Daniel, it's stupid. You won't get anywhere in life if you don't learn to defend yourself."

"I get my own back, ok? It's not like I let him get away with everything. And I thought you said things were going back to the way they were before...like we're back to being enemies, right? So why's it matter how the bullies at school treat me if we're enemies again?"

"Who says we're enemies?"

"...We're...not?" Danny asked, unable to disguise the hopeful tone in his voice.

"I rescued you from your very charming friend, who I'm sure had every intention of giving you a black eye, I made my protection of you very public and now now I'm driving you to school, do you need me to make it any more obvious that we're not?"

"Oh," the teenage hybrid blinked at him.

"Sometimes, Daniel, I really do despair," Vlad lamented, shaking his head.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, dear boy, nothing at all. Now I do believe that this is your school," he said, switching off the engine.

"Yeah," Danny nodded. "Just...lemme check...not enemies?" he asked, staring at Vlad's infamous eyes.

"No, not enemies," he answered.

"You're sure?"

"Yes."

"Just like that?"

"You think this is easy for me? You made your terms quite clear and it's going to take some time for me to deal with them. It's what you wanted though, isn't it?" Vlad asked.

It wasn't as though he'd been left with much of a choice after being shown the future that would happen if he didn't at least try. He'd be exiled in outer space and return to wreak havoc on earth and murder Danny Phantom in cold blood. And he hated to think of what the version,of himself would have done to his cousin and her daughter. That Vlad was a warped killer and they had no hope of defending themselves. Clockwork hadn't shown him what had happened to them, but in some ways that was worse, he was left to imagine it and he unfortunately had a vivid imagination and some very realistic nightmares.

"Well, yeah!" Danny said, jolting Vlad from his thoughts.

"Then stop complaining."

"I'm not complaining."

"Good," Vlad said.

"Y'know...everyone staring at us," Danny said, looking out of the blackened car windows. No one would be able to them specifically, but it wasn't every day a Mercedes stopped outside of Casper High.

"Naturally."

"No, not 'naturally'," Danny snapped, "Bad. This is really, really bad."

"You'd better get to class."

"Maybe I'll just wait here till they've all gone."

"Don't be a baby, Daniel."

"Easy for you to say."

"Do you need to me walk you to your class?"

"No!"

"I'm sure we'll find it, come along, little badger," Vlad grinned, getting out of the car.

"No! Vlad, don't, wait!" Danny cried but it was too late. "Oh...shoot," he grumbled, sighing before he climbed out of the car too.

Ignoring the whispers was impossible, especially since Danny had better hearing than most people but they only seemed to inflate Vlad's ego even more whereas it made Danny want to curl up in a dark corner until it was all over.

"You'll have to get used to this kind of attention now," Vlad told him quietly.

"Is this like payback for something?"

"It's not a punishment," he snorted, "Most people would enjoy the attention being related to me will bring you. You have a whole day to get used to it. Have fun," Vlad smiled at him and left him there.

* * *

A.N. I've been wanting to write a sequel for ages now but I'm still kinda short on ideas so it's taken a while just to get started. If you guys have any suggestions I'd love to hear them. Also, with this and the last two stories, I'm running out of 'past' phrases for the story names. Lol.


	2. A New Reality

**The Past is Present**

**Chapter 2: A New Reality**

* * *

As he walked through the crowds of whispering teenagers, Danny nervously rubbed the back of his neck and found his friends and his sister standing by the lockers.

"What the heck is going on, Danny?" Jazz asked him.

"Erm..."

"Yeah, dude, Dash was here running round like crazy telling everyone about...y'know...that Vlad's your..." Tucker whispered.

"It's kinda a long story," Danny sighed, "But...yeah, I guess everyone knows now. Probably even end up on the news or something too," he grumbled.

"What happened?" Sam asked.

"Well...Vlad turned up when Dash was chasing me...he told him about the...well, then Dash ran off. I guess Vlad scared the bejesus outta him."

"I would'a loved to see that," Tucker muttered.

"And then erm...Vlad drove me here...in the Mercedes...made a big show of it, too."

"Y'think this makes you and Jazz the richest kids in the school now?" Tucker asked.

"We're not his kids, Tucker," Danny said.

"No...but still."

"Oh, man what a day," the young hybrid grumbled.

* * *

During class, Danny couldn't help but notice that everyone was staring at him and when it was time for lunch as he, Tucker and Sam made their way over to a table. As they sat at their own table, across from them Danny heard Paulina shout out to him.

"Danny! Danny, come sit with us," she smiled at him and Sam scowled.

"Don't listen to her," the goth whispered to him. "You know they're only interested in your money. Vlad's money," she said.

"Yeah...but she just asked me to sit with them! Me!" Danny exclaimed, "Sitting with...Paulina..."

"Oh, brother," Sam rolled her eyes and grabbed her tray before storming off.

"You really gonna sit with them?" Tucker asked, "'Cause, y'know Sam's right."

"...Yeah, but it's Paulina!"

"...Yeah," Tucker nodded and they both grabbed their trays and walked over.

"Who invited the dork?" Dash demanded, staring at Tucker.

"...He's...err...with me?" Danny muttered, nervously.

Paulina shrugged after a moment and Tucker practically radiated happiness as he and Danny sat down.

* * *

A very smug looking Danny walked home between his two friends, with Tucker also happy and Sam, not so happy.

"I can't believe you let them just...after everything they've done..." Sam muttered. "You're not stupid, Danny. You know they don't care about you, especially her," she hissed.

"We got invited to a party, Sam. A party. We never get invited to parties! And you can come too!"

"I don't want to, I never cared about their parties! If I just told them I had money, they'd treat me like that too, but I don't want that!"

"But..."

"I really thought you understood," she sighed. "I guess not," she said before walking off ahead of them.

"So...we goin' to the party?" Tucker asked.

"I...I don't know. I mean...it's not like...like I don't know that it's all about the money to them but...Vlad said I'd have to get used to being treated different now everyone knows," he sighed. "Hey...did err...did Sam seem...mad?"

"Man, you're so clueless," Tucker muttered.

"Huh?" Danny blinked.

"Anyway, the party's not till Friday, right? Well, we got three days to talk her round," he replied.

"Yeah, yeah, I guess so," Danny nodded.

* * *

"Hello, Daniel, how nice of you to join us," Vlad's calm, educated voice greeted Danny when he walked through the front door.

"Huh?" the young hybrid blinked, confused.

Vlad was sitting on the sofa, sipping from a slightly chipped mug of steaming tea across from Jack who had pulled up a chair so that the two of them were sitting on opposite sides of a small table which held a checker board. Vlad was winning and Jack was looking very contemplative as he stared down at the board.

"I got a good feeling about this one, V-man, I'm gonna win this time," the orange clad ghost hunter declared.

Vlad rolled his eyes and sipped his tea daintily. Jack said that every game they'd ever played in college and he'd never ever won a game yet. "Of course you are, Jack," Vlad scoffed but of course, as always, his scorn wasn't noticed at all.

"What's err...what's goin' on?" Danny asked, walking towards them.

"I'm playing a very **stimulating** game of checkers with your father," Vlad replied, dryly.

"Errr...ooooookay then...I'm err...I'll just...be going to my room then. Yeah errr...I'm err..." Danny stammered, surprised beyond belief.

"Come on, Vladdie, your turn," Jack said.

"Why don't you stay here and tell us how your day went, dear boy," Vlad said, clearly ignoring Jack's urging to make his move in the game.

"Errr...it went...err...great," Danny mumbled.

"Care to elaborate?"

"Errr...nope," he muttered quickly and tried to run away up to his room.

"Off to do your homework? And so eager too," Vlad remarked, silkily. "I'd imagine it pays to get your work done as quickly as possible."

"Yeah, Danny boy, if there's homework, get to it, we talked about the grade thing, remember," Jack said.

"I know, dad," Danny sighed, glaring at the smug looking Vlad.

"How...bout...that?" Jack then declared as he moved a checker piece.

"King me," Vlad drawled, moving one of his own straight across the board and over several of Jack's.

"Oh, shoot," the man bemoaned and slouched forwards.

"Why don't you go and help Maddie in the lab," Vlad suggested to him.

"Great idea, Vladdie," the man ran off, leaving the two hybrids alone.

"Do you actually have homework?" Vlad asked him.

"Err...yeah, a bit," Danny answered.

"How are your grades doing?"

"...Bit better...maybe."

"Maybe is not good enough, Daniel," Vlad sighed.

"I'm trying ok it's just...a lot to catch up on," Danny admitted.

"Then sit down," Vlad told him, gesturing to the sofa.

"Huh?" the teenager stared at him in confusion.

"Sit down and do your work and if need be, I will help you. Clearly you'll get no help from your parents," he explained.

"...You're gonna help me do my homework? You?" Danny summarised, still confused.

"I think it's fair to say that I'm of above average intelligence, I'm sure that I can manage to be of assistance."

"Fruitloop," Danny grumbled.

"You really should be thanking me, not insulting me, you know. I single handedly, in one day, dealt with your ridiculous bullying problem, made my relation to you public, raised your reputation sky high in that squalid cesspool of a school, and now I'm offering my help yet again," Vlad drawled, sarcastically.

"Yeah, school was great, now thanks to you I get mobbed every time I leave class."

"Surely it's an improvement on being chased by an ape."

"..." Danny bit his lip and he couldn't deny that.

"Now, sit down and show me what you have to do," Vlad reiterated, calmly.

"Seriously? You're really gonna do this?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?"

"Honestly, it's hard to tell sometimes with you," Danny replied.

"Well, I'm not and you know that I don't like to repeat myself."

"Fine, okay, doing homework with my ex-arch enemy now, totally normal," Danny said, walking over to the sofa and dropping his school bag onto the floor before he sat down. "Just don't blame me if you get so bored your eyeballs fall out," he said, beginning take out his books from the bag. "I'm err...a bit behind..." he muttered when Vlad raised an eyebrow at the number of books Danny ended up with.

"In that case, you're not leaving this room until it's all done and I'm going to sit here and make sure of that. You really do need to do something about your grades, little badger and if no one else is going to do it, then I will."

"Oh joy," Danny muttered.

"One day, you'll thank me."

"Uh huh."

* * *

"What's...going on?" Jazz asked when she came home shortly after. She stood staring at the sight of Vlad and Danny sitting next to each other on the sofa with half a dozen text books around them.

"Vlad's found a new way of torturing me, save me," Danny replied and Vlad rolled his eyes.

"Focus, Daniel, the battle of Waterloo was 1815, not 1851," the older hybrid said after reading through the lines Danny had written.

"Urgh," Danny flopped back onto the sofa. "Y'see...torture, Jazz!" he exclaimed.

"You're...doing homework?" Jazz blinked.

"Uh huh," Danny nodded.

"And...Vlad's helping you?"

"He's torturing me! How many times do I have to say it?!"

"About time you made a start on all that work," she replied. "I thought you said you'd done the history stuff last night," she added.

"Err...this is err...more stuff..."

"Right," she replied in disbelief. "Well, you're gonna be at it a while. I guess mom and dad are in the lab, right?" she asked and he nodded. "I'll cook dinner then," she said, walking through into the kitchen. "I think we still have some pasta somewhere unless mom and dad used it all for their experiment yesterday. What'd they need it for again?"

"Who knows," Danny sighed.

"Nope, it's all gone, shoot," Jazz grumbled from the kitchen.

"They were using food in an experiment?" Vlad asked.

"Yup. Y'know they made the Christmas dinner come to life one time...I told you that, right? Weird things happen in this house," Danny shrugged. "So, no food again?" he called to Jazz.

"There's vegetables, for some reason they never use vegetables when they're messing around with food in their experiments. Guess I'm making vegetable stew," she said.

"Meh, that's cool" Danny said.

"Is the lack of food a regular occurrence?" Vlad asked, stoically.

"Not really," Danny replied, coolly. "Now..what was it you were saying about this water battle?"

"Waterloo, Daniel, Waterloo," Vlad sighed.

Both Fenton children knew that their parents loved them, that much was true, but it was also true that occasionally, their parenting was a little, shall we say, distracted? Sometimes, food was used in experiments and not replaced. Sometimes they could spend all day and all night in the lab and leave their children to cook their food and get themselves to bed at a reasonable hour. But on other days it was the exact opposite. To both Danny and Jazz, it was normal. Vlad however, wasn't impressed.

* * *

"Done!" Danny exclaimed, happily and he slouched back onto the sofa, "Finally."

"Yes, now don't let it pile up like that again," Vlad replied.

"Sir, yes, sir," the teenager a lazy salute.

"Well done, Danny," Jazz smiled and began to close all of the books. "And Vlad's right. I mean, there's been hardly any ghost attacks lately, so you've got more time to do schoolwork."

"That just means they're planning something, Jazz, I can't sit around every night doing math when they're out there doing..."

"Daniel," Vlad interrupted him.

"But I have to..."

"No, you don't. How many times must I say it? This town can survive without you. You, however, will not amount to anything unless you do well in school."

"He's got a point, little brother."

"But you can't just...side with him!"

"I can if he's right," Jazz shrugged.

"But you...but he..."

Before Danny could say anything else, Maddie walked into the room, pulling her goggles up onto her head.

"Danny, Jazz?" she said, "Vlad? What's...what're you doing here?"

"I arrived this afternoon, my dear, surely you remember," he answered.

"Oh, right," the ghost hunter replied, "Sorry, Vlad, we've been really busy down there, we had three explosions. Three!"

"Nothing to worry about I'm sure," Vlad replied, "Jasmine and I have been hard at work helping Daniel with his homework."

"Oh...well that's...good," she said, shocked. "I just came up to start dinner," she said.

"Maddie, my dear, it's half past nine...at night," he told her. "Jasmine was good enough to cook, and a very excellent job she did too. I believe she left some for you and...Jack."

"Half past...but I thought..." Maddie trailed off, looking at the clock on the wall. "Oh, kids I'm so sorry, I was just so caught up in..."

"Mom, it's fine," Danny said, quickly, "Jazz made dinner, it's cool."

"I really am..."

"It's ok, mom," Jazz assured her, all the while Vlad found himself biting his lip to stay silent.

It was hardly his place to criticise, especially after everything he'd done, and Maddie was, after all, the woman he still loved. But something in the back of his mind, a conscience he thought he'd long since done away with, was telling him that this was wrong. But what right did he have to say anything? And he loved Maddie. His three weeks away in the Ghost Zone hadn't changed that but he'd never before thought about the home life of the two Fenton children. His godchildren.

"Well...alright then," Maddie said. "Thanks for helping, Vlad. I should probably get back to the lab...Jack was on the verge of...Well, just make sure you do to bed soon, okay, kids? Vlad, can you..."

"No later than ten o' clock, Maddie dear, billionaires' honour."

"Seriously, Vlad, we don't need a bedtime," Danny grumbled.

"That kind of attitude can put the time back to quarter to, young man," Vlad said, sarcastically.

"Say what?!"

"Maddie! It's working! Uh oh, no it isn't...it's gonna blow!" Jack's loud voice echoed from the lab and then a loud explosion rumbled through the house.

"Oh no, not again," Maddie ran off. "Goodnight, kids, goodnight, Vlad," she called, without really stopping to consider just how odd it was that Vlad was there at all. But when she can Jack were in that frame of mind, nothing could really break through. At least for Maddie, once the inventive phase wore off, she'd stop and go over the whole situation and wonder just what on earth had made Vlad help Danny with his homework or even agree to make sure her children went to bed on time. But not just yet.

"There they go again," Jazz sighed and stood up. "I'm calling it a night, I wanna get to the library early tomorrow," she said.

"You're both nuts, y'know that," Danny told her, smiling.

"Takes one to know one, Danny," she replied and childishly messed up his already messy black hair.

"Hey!" he cried.

"Night, little brother," Jazz said. She then turned to Vlad with a curious expression and smiled. "Night, Vlad," she added and left.

"What a weird day," Danny muttered.

"I'm sure that by traditional standards, all of your days are 'weird'. You're half ghost, dear boy," Vlad remarked.

"I mean...y'know...weird even for me. I got invited to a party today, y'know, that never happens. There was a party here once, like in my own house, and I wasn't even invited, I mean, what the heck?! And now it's just like, hey Danny, wanna come to a party!"

"Ah, that'll be your enhanced reputation, you're welcome, incidentally."

"Fruitloop," Danny muttered again but Vlad just chuckled. "Man, what's going on with you today anyway? You drive me to school, throw me to the lions and help me with my homework, are you try'na be like super unkie Vlad or something?" Danny asked.

"I'm doing what you and Clockwork demanded," Vlad replied, "I'm doing what I need to. I'm being...not an enemy."

"Oh," Danny breathed.

"Is it not working?" Vlad asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Err...well, we're not fighting, right? That's...good."

"How gratifying."

"Y'know," Danny began, thoughtfully. "No one's ever helped me with my homework before. I mean, Jazz does and Sam and Tuck sometimes but I mean...like mom and dad. It's still torture though."

"All children would agree with you, I think."

"Except Jazz, she loves homework," Danny said, dryly.

"Ah," Vlad gave a small grin, "Admittedly so did I."

"Weirdos," Danny muttered.

"Well, you happen to owe these two 'weirdos' a great deal after listening to your whining the least few hours."

"I didn't 'whine'," the teenage hybrid protested.

"You most certainly did," Vlad replied, seriously. "So, as payment, I insist that you and Jasmine join me for dinner at my hotel tomorrow evening after school."

"Err...why?"

"It gives me the perfect opportunity to flaunt my wealth."

"Figures," Danny snorted.

"Quite frankly, after seeing the deplorable state of your food supply, you really should be thanking me."

"What'd you mean? It's not that bad. Me and Jazz can deal with it ourselves, we're not babies, know. And Mom just forgot, she was busy, that's all."

"Busy creating a weapon designed to destroy you," Vlad retorted.

"Well...she doesn't know it's me!"

"I'll have a driver ready and waiting for the two of you after school tomorrow. You'll just have to look for the most expensive vehicle in the parking lot. I don't think even you will have a difficult time of it."

"Hey!" Danny cried.

"I don't suppose you've ever been, but I happen to be staying at one of the most expensive hotels in the area. It's a little out of the way, but such is the price of luxury," he sighed dramatically.

"What the..."

"You'll probably stand out quite hilariously dressed as you are, but people should know better than to comment once they see that you are with me."

"Will you just..."

"And I really don't..."

"Vlad!" Danny yelled.

"Yes?" Vlad blinked at him, raising an eyebrow.

"We're not going to some fancy hotel in the middle of no where," Danny said.

"Why ever not?"

"Because...we don't...do fancy stuff. And why would you even want us there?"

"Consider it my demand for helping you. After all, I rarely do something for nothing."

"So...for helping me do homework...you're gonna take us to a fancy hotel and give us fancy food? Did you hit your head when you went to Canada or something?"

"Just think how awkward you'll feel, I assure you, it won't be walk in the park."

"Geez, everyone in this town already thinks me and Jazz are weird, we live in the building with the giant tin can stuck on the top. You're gonna have to do better than that."

"Just do as I say," Vlad rolled his eyes.

"But..."

"And when someone does a good deed, I believe you're supposed to say 'thank you'," Vlad replied with a small grin.

"I..." Danny began but stopped. Vlad had actually done something good, for whatever reason, he'd helped Danny with his homework as well as saving from Dash that morning and driving him to school. "Right...erm...thanks, Vlad," he said, clearly surprising the older hybrid.

"You'll come to dinner?" Vlad managed to ask after a moment.

"Err...sure," Danny answered.

"Splendid," Vlad said and glanced at his watch.

"Don't tell me," Danny said, sarcastically, "It's past my bed time?"

"Not quite," Vlad smirked.

"Oh, goodie," he grumbled and Vlad chuckled.

* * *

At ten o'clock exactly, with Jack and Maddie still in the basement lab and with no signs of leaving it anytime soon and with Danny climbing the stairs off to his bedroom, Vlad left the house and drove back to his hotel. He walked through the halls of expensive luxury without really seeing any of it and he didn't even hear the hotel workers asking if he wanted anything. Vlad made his way to his suite of rooms and eventually found himself staring at his reflection in the large bathroom mirror. Despite the changes, Vlad could still only see his father staring back at him. The same white hair, the same cruel blue eyes, even the shape of his nose and his face, all of it was Vladislav and those weren't things that he could change.

He grimaced at his reflection and before he knew what he was doing, he punched the mirror and watched it shatter into a thousand tiny shards around him. Breathing heavily, it took him a while to notice the shards embedded in his fist so he removed them one by one and watched as each gash quickly healed over perfectly. He turned away from the mess and padded into the bedroom where he threw himself onto the bed and curled up beneath the soft sheets.

* * *

A.N. It's been a loooooong time since I updated this fic. I think I ran out of ideas, I have a few but I'm not sure how to make a story out of them yet. I'm trying to figure it out. I'd love to know if you guys have any ideas. Let me know what you think :)


	3. Dinner at The Majestic

**The Past is Present**

**Chapter 3: Dinner at The Majestic**

* * *

The following morning, when a bleary eyed Danny stumbled into the kitchen, he found Jazz sitting at the table which was covered with letters and envelopes.

"Err...weren't you meant to be at the library or something?" Danny asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Danny?!" she exclaimed, nearly jumping up and falling out of her seat. She hastily began to gather the letters up to hide them but when Danny saw one marked 'urgent' he picked it up before she could hide it.

"What's this?" he asked.

"It's nothing, Danny, just..."

"It says 'urgent', Jazz, it's gotta be something...y'know...urgent."

"It's just those stupid spam things, y'know, 'you've won a million dollars, act now, don't delay', y'know just those stupid things," she gave a nervous laugh.

"Doesn't look like it," Danny said, reading the letter. "Whoa, hey is this thing for real?" he asked, seriously. "They're gonna take mom and dad to court?"

"It's...yeah, it's real," she sighed. "It's...unpaid electricity bill. Mom and dad haven't paid it for three months and the suppliers are threatening to cut us off and take us to court. So I went and found all the other letters, y'know how they usually just stuff them in the drawer till they remember them? Mom's not usually this forgetful," she sighed. "They've basically had enough of us shorting out the neighbourhood every other week and they put the bill up because we use so much. I guess they had trouble paying it and they just...forgot."

Danny, stunned, fell into a chair and blinked at his sister. He'd never seen her so stressed. "So...what'd we do?" he asked.

"I...told mom and she said she'd take care of it but...I really don't know how they can afford this. The lab...it's using too much power," Jazz said.

"They'll never shut the lab down," Danny purses his lip.

"I know. But if mom and dad don't pay these bills by the end of this month they'll cut off our supply," Jazz said, tossing aside the most recent letter. "We'll have no gas or electricity and all they seem to care about is the stupid lab!" she cried, running a hand through her messy hair.

"How much?"

"Too much," she answered.

"So...we're in trouble...like, real trouble?"

"Yeah, we are."

"And here I was worried about school," Danny sighed, slouching in his chair.

They both knew that their parents loved them more than anything, or at least on equal par with ghost hunting and most of the time, Jack and Maddie were great parents, if unconventional ones. But Danny couldn't ever remember finding unpaid bills and court threats before and he had no idea what to do about it. He supposed if he thought like Vlad, he could just use his powers to rob a bank and use it to pay the bills, but there was no way that he could.

"I was thinking...I could...pay it...I mean, Vlad gave me that money and..."

"No way, Jazz, he gave you that for college and a car," Danny protested. "And I thought you were gonna buy that one you saw last week," he added. Clearly his sister had gene thinking along similar lines, maybe not the robbing a bank route, but it had lead her to think about Vlad.

The old car she'd been using had finally broken down so badly that it wouldn't be worth fixing it and she'd had her eye on a new one, well, it was a used car, but it was still nice.

"Yeah but...well, d'you think..." Jazz began quietly, "Maybe...erm...Vlad could..."

"Oh, no!" Danny exclaimed, standing up and throwing his arms up. "No way, Jazz," he added.

"Why not? We could at least ask. We're...we're in a heck of a lot of trouble here, Danny," she explained.

"But..." Danny began but their mother walked into the room before he could continue.

"Kids..." Maddie said and tried to smile. "You should get to school. I said I'd handle this," she said, gathering up the letters on the table.

"But, mom..." Jazz said.

Maddie crumpled the letters into a small pile and stuffed them into one of the dozens of pockets on her jumpsuit. "Now, have you had breakfast? I'll make you some, then you really should go to school," she said, hurrying around the kitchen.

* * *

"I really don't think it's a good idea," Danny said to her as they walked down the street to school. They were on their way to meet Sam and Tucker.

"What?" Jazz asked.

"Paying the bills yourself. I mean, what happens next time and the time after that, you can't pay them forever."

"I know, but...it's better than having no electricity," she replied.

Danny had no answer to that and he didn't want to talk about it in front of his friends, who they could see walking towards them. "Talk about it later, 'kay?" he muttered and she nodded. "Hey, guys!" he waved, putting on a smile.

* * *

As he'd expected, Danny and his sister were suddenly everyone's best friend. Everyone they passed in the corridor seemed to know them and ask them how they were and some even hugged them.

"This is too weird even for me," Danny grumbled.

"If it makes you feel any better, it's weird for me too," Jazz said. "I'll see you later," she said, walking off to class.

"I need a disguise," the young hybrid muttered.

"We could always try the goth look," Sam grinned.

"Err...maybe later," Danny replied.

* * *

The fact that Danny had done all of his homework seemed to surprise every teacher when he handed it to them, especially Lancer.

"Finally decided to buck up your ideas, Mr. Fenton?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Err, yeah," Danny nodded, "Figured I should...y'know..."

"And what force of nature finally forced you to sit down and start this academic streak?"

"...V...err...my err...godfather," Danny muttered.

"Hmm, " Lancer hummed. Like everyone else in the school he too had heard the rumours that the Fenton children's godfather was wealthy billionaire Vlad Masters and from what he'd heard of the man, he was indeed a force of nature to be reckoned with. "Well, good," the man nodded. "Since you're at it, don't forget the test on Friday," he said.

"...Right...what's that about again?" Danny asked and Lancer sighed.

* * *

The rest of the day passed much like the last. At dinner they were practically hauled over to the 'popular' table and Sam spent that time ignoring the conversation and stormed off the moment the bell rang for class.

"So, you're coming to my party Friday, right, Danny?" Paulina asked him.

"Err...uh huh, I mean sure, wouldn't miss it," Danny answered.

"Smooth," Tucker whispered to him.

"Good," she smiled, "We better get to class."

* * *

"Err...what's with the car, dude?" Tucker stared, open mouthed at the sleek black car that was waiting outside after school.

"Oh...nuts..." Danny face palmed. "Forgot...hoped he had too," he muttered.

"Forgot what?" Jazz asked.

"Err...Vlad's making us go to dinner at this...fancy hotel he's staying at," he told her.

"Why?"

"Said that's what he wanted for helping me with my homework last night," he shrugged.

"Which is still creepy," Sam said.

"It was torture, it took ages," Danny corrected her.

"You needed to do it, Danny, and I'm glad Vlad helped you," Jazz shook her head. "But why did he say that's what he wanted in return?" she pondered. "When did he ask you about it?"

"He didn't really 'ask' but err...last night, after you went to bed."

"Oh," she said. "Well, it's a nice offer but we need to get home...remember?" she said, subtly reminding him, she hoped, about the electricity bill issue.

"Yeah, I know...but it's not like we'll be gone all night...and I am pretty hungry. And unless mom and dad went shopping, we're gonna end up eating that old pizza out the freezer and I forgot how long that things been in there for. And it's free food!" he added.

"I...guess," she frowned.

"Plus, if we don't go we'd never hear the end of it," Danny added.

"True," she scoffed.

"Sneak out some o' that fancy food for me, will ya?" Tucker said to him.

"In what? I don't don't think Vlad goes to places where they let you take a doggy bag home, Tuck," Danny rolled his eyes.

"No fair," Tucker bemoaned.

"Mr. Fenton? Miss. Fenton?" the driver from the car called as she got out. She was a relatively young woman, with short bobbed black hair wearing black trousers and a smart white shirt. "I'm your driver for today, I'm Ainsley. We should really get going, Mr. Masters won't be happy if you're late," she said.

As if on queue, both Danny and Jazz's phone made loud beeping sounds, or in Danny's case a loud 'boo' sound; Tucker had thought it was funny and Danny couldn't get it to change back.

"Speak o' the devil," Danny grumbled as he read the text.

"Vlad?" Jazz asked him.

"Yup," he nodded. "I swear he's psychic or something. Says we'd better go to dinner or else, basically. Oh and he says to 'be nice to Ainsley'. I'm nice!" he frowned.

"Huh, on mine he says 'make sure your brother behaves'," Jazz smirked.

"Say what?" Danny exclaimed and snatched her phone from her hand. "That jerk," he grumbled after reading it. Jazz snorted as she put away her phone.

"Dinner with your arch enemy, huh? Nice knowing you, Danny. I guess we can avenge you when things go wrong," Sam said, smirking from the texts. "Oh, and be nice," she mocked.

"Yeah, and behave," Tucker added.

"Real funny, guys," Danny grumbled.

"Behave," Sam grinned again and they left.

"Bring me food!" Tucker called back and Danny shook his head.

"No way!"

"Oh, come on!"

"Nu uh!" Danny called back.

"Come on," Jazz shook her head, smiling and they made their way to the car.

"Err...I forgot to tell mom and dad," Danny told her.

"I'll call them," Jazz said, taking out her phone again.

"Hey, how far away is this fancy hotel anyway?" Danny asked Ainsley as they got into the car and closed the doors.

"Just over half an hour if we manage to avoid traffic, sir," she replied.

"And err...if we don't?"

"More like an hour."

"Geez, why couldn't Vlad just stay at a hotel in the city?" he grumbled and she chuckled. "And what's with the 'sir'?" he asked.

"Then he wouldn't get to show off by sending a driver to pick you up, would he?" Ainsley replied. "Mr. Masters values politeness, I'm told you're his family. So you're 'sir', and Miss. Fenton is 'miss'."

"Errr...I'd feel a lot better if you just call me 'Danny'," he replied. "I err...won't tell Vlad," he added.

"It's more than my job's worth I'm afraid, sir," she replied and he sighed.

"'Sir' it is then, but I'm totally gonna have words with Vlad."

"Your funeral," she smiled.

"Danny, they're not answering," Jazz told him.

He tried calling both his parents' phones and the landline and got no answer. "Guess they're in the lab," he sighed. "Can we make a stop first?" he asked the woman, "Mom and dad don't know we're going."

"Sure thing," she replied, "Where to?"

"Trust me, y'can't miss it," Danny replied, sighing.

* * *

"Well...you weren't wrong, sir," Ainsley remarked, looking up at Fenton Works in a mix of awe and confusion.

"Yeah," Danny rolled his eyes and got out of the car.

"We won't be long," Jazz assured her quickly before she followed her brother.

"Y'think they sorted out the bills?" Danny asked her, opening the front door.

"I hope so," she answered quietly. "Mom? Dad?" she called out.

"Lab," Danny said and they made their way down into the lab.

Predictably, their parents were had at work, although what exactly they were working on, they weren't entirely sure. "Mom? Dad?" Danny said.

"Kids!" Jack smiled at them. "Come look at this! It'll zap any ghost it gets close to! I call it the Fenton Zapper!"

"Err..." Jazz blinked and subtly pushed Danny away a little. "Maybe later. We were...we're going out. Vlad invited us to dinner at his hotel so...erm...there's leftover veg stew in the fridge for you but we need to sort out the..."

"I'm handling it, sweetie," Maddie assured her kindly. "But...Vlad asked you to dinner?"

"Yeah," Danny said, "He's got his driver calling me 'sir' and everything."

"He has a driver?" Maddie blinked.

"Yup."

"Oh...well, and...you want to go?" she asked.

"Err...yeah, sure," Danny shrugged.

"Well, have fun," she replied, sounding confused.

"Tell Vladdie we said 'hi'," Jack said cheerily.

"Uh huh," Danny muttered.

* * *

"Should we err..I dunno, change?" Jazz asked him before they left the house.

"Why bother?"

"You keep saying it's a fancy hotel, shouldn't we...look fancy?"

"Well, you can if you want but..."

"I'm going to change. I'll be quick."

"We're gonna be late and he's not gonna be happy."

"I think the fact that we changed will make it worth it, don't you? He's all for appearances, right?"

"Guess so. Argh fine, I'll...I dunno, I'll look," Danny stormed off to his room.

* * *

"Ready?" Ainsley asked them when they returned to the car.

"Yep," Danny sighed. "Can't believe you made me change," he grumbled to his sister.

"I didn't make you. I just don't feel like being stared at when we go to this fancy hotel," she relied. She'd changed into a knee length skirt and low heels with her usual black top. While Danny had made a minuscule effort by wearing a white button up shirt and the black suit trousers that he'd bought when Vlad had taken them to the theatre.

"Probably give Vlad a heart attack," he snorted.

"Probably," Jazz smiled.

Danny was about to say something but he seemed to think better of it, instea,d he took out his phone, typed a quick message and put it away. A second later, Jazz's phone buzzed. 'Don't say anything to Vlad about the bill. We'll get mom and dad to sort it out l8r. K?' it read.

She sighed but nodded to him and he gave her a small smile.

* * *

The 'Majestic' hotel was aptly named. It was a huge, baroque style building with columns and statues as far as the eye could see. There was a large water fountain in front and the driveway arched around it with a huge stone staircase leading up to the main door. The ground floor ceiling to floor windows looked to be framed with gold and the sash windows above them were too. It was a lavish display of wealth that suited Vlad and made Danny feel uncomfortable.

"Yup, leave it to Vlad to book into a freaking palace," Danny rolled his eyes.

"Come on," Jazz smiled at him and got out of the car.

Ainsley led them into the building where she was greeted by several porters who opened doors for them and they came to a large dining room. It was classical enough without being old fashioned, yet modern enough to appeal to the twenty first century guests. It was light and open and filled with people who looked to be worth more money than Danny could count. Every wall and even the ceiling was decorated with classical paintings and a huge, crystal chandelier hung from the centre. Along one side, the French windows gave a beautiful view of the surrounding woodland and let in the light. The tables were round and covered with pristine white sheets, atop which was fine china and crystal glasses. They could hear elegant piano music playing and saw that there was a white, grand piano in the far corner of the room with a man in a suit playing it.

"Think we can make a run for it?" Danny muttered to his sister.

"Doubt it," she replied.

"Dang," he grumbled.

"Besides, looks like we've been spotted," Jazz said.

An enthusiastic Vikki walked over to them, wearing a light blue dress and she hugged them both. "Is good to see you, I have missed you both," she beamed at them.

"Err...hi, Vik, didn't know you'd be here," Danny smiled at her.

"Nice dress," Jazz told her and she smiled even more.

"Uncle Vlad bought it from his travel," she declared and twirled, "Is pretty, no? When he say he is to come here and see you, I say I go too. Come, my mumma is here too, and grandmumma you say hello, come, come," she said, eagerly and led them to a large table.

At the table sat Vlad, his cousin Valya and his mother Rosalyn. Vlad seemed to be keeping up with his casual look, in a white shirt sans his usual tie and suit jacket though he was wearing suit trousers. Both his mother and Vikki were wearing elegant dresses and they smiled at the two Fenton teenagers. Vikki took her place beside her mother and Jazz and Danny took the remaining two chairs.

"Ah, Daniel, Jasmine, I was beginning to wonder if you'd wandered off," Vlad said to them.

"We hit some traffic, sir," Ainsley explained after following them.

"No matter, they're here now, thank you, Ainsley," he said.

"Sir," she nodded and left.

"You made an effort the pair of you," Vlad remarked, appraising their choice of attire. "Well done," he said.

"Wow, I feel insulted," Danny muttered.

"I was being genuine," Vlad shrugged.

"Uh huh," the teenager snorted and Vlad grinned.

"We can eat now, yes?" Vikki asked him. "He made us wait till you got here and I am hungry," she told Danny and Jazz.

"Yes, my dear," Vlad said. With the most minute of gestures, three waiters descended on the table, setting down the most expensive looking bowls of soup Danny had ever seen.

"Err...what's this, isn't there like a menu?" the hybrid asked.

"No," Vlad told him, simply.

"What kind of place is this?"

"Burgers and fries won't be an option, I assure you," Vlad retorted.

"Shame," Danny muttered.

"It's err...called witty banter," Jazz whispered to Valya who was looking confused. "They err...they do it all the time," she said.

"Aha," Valya nodded in understanding, "Is different, but so did we. I was unsure if they were serious."

"Yeah, so are they sometimes, I think," Jazz replied.

"So, how was school?" Vlad asked them.

"Same as yesterday, we both got mobbed," Danny shrugged.

"Wonderful," Vlad said, barely restraining a smile.

"Mobbed?" Rosalyn asked, concerned.

"Err...we're really erm...well liked?" Jazz tried to explain, trying not to seem distracted at her parents financial issues.

"It may have come to light that they're my godchildren," Vlad explained.

"Ah," Valya nodded, "This is unfortunate." She remembered when she'd left the castle for a shopping trip in Wisconsin with Rosalyn. It had taken a while, but when people had cottoned onto the fact that they were related to the country's most eligible billionaire, they had turned into press magnets. Some had even suggested that Valya was his wife until he'd corrected them and threatened to sue them. After that, they'd had a formal apology and it hadn't been quite as bad.

"Being related to me?" Vlad raised an eyebrow.

"The 'being mobbed'," she corrected him.

"Yeah, it sucks," Danny said.

"Well, you'd better get used to it, all of you," Vlad said, taking a sip from a crystal wine glass.

"I am used to it," Valya replied. "I don't like it, but I am used to it. It will take more than this to scare me away, cousin," she said.

"Don't tempt me, Valya," Vlad smiled at her.

"You do not scare me," she declared.

"Or me," Vikki declared, happily.

"Clearly I'm not trying hard enough."

"Guess you're not so scary after all," Danny said.

"Is this 'insult Vlad day'?" the man asked.

"It can be," Danny grinned.

"No, it couldn't. Now eat your soup," Vlad told him and Vikki giggled.

"How was Canada?" Jazz asked him.

"Lovely," Vlad answered smoothly. "I managed to skilfully avoid the press the whole time and I spent most of my time skiing," he said. He'd told the same story to his cousin, his mother and to Vikki as well as the press when they'd asked questions on his return so there was no reason for them not to believe it.

"Skiing?" Danny asked and shivered.

"Yes, it's quite fun. A benefit is that no one knows that it's me; the goggles and a hat do wonders," Vlad replied.

"Gimme a warm beach any day," Danny grumbled.

"I'll keep that in mind for my next holiday. In the meantime, I brought you gifts."

"It's not snow, is it?" the young hybrid asked.

"Sadly, no," Vlad grinned. He snapped his fingers and yet another, ever attentive waiter, placed two small boxes on the table, one beside Danny and the other for Jazz.

"Err...thanks," Danny blinked, surprised. He gently but down the silver spoon as though it were made of glass, and picked up the box. He found that it contained a very expensive watch with so many different functions it would likely make Tucker's head spin when he saw it. "Whoa, awesome," he could help but exclaim.

"I couldn't help but add some of my own...adjustments," Vlad told him. "It's capable of interfacing with my personal computer system, you understand," he said pointedly. "I left instructions for you in the box," he added, "Don't try to set it up at the table, please."

"Y'mean...whoa..." Danny muttered in understanding, "Thanks."

When Jazz opened the box left for her, she found an exquisite set of silver jewellery with crystals and beautiful roses inlaid into it. There was a necklace, earrings, a ring, a bracelet and a dainty matching watch.

"The same goes for your watch, Jasmine," he said to her.

"Computer watches, cousin," Valya smiled, shaking her head.

"I enjoy a challenge. I wasn't sure I could get it to work with such a small watch," he shrugged.

"This must've...cost a fortune," Jazz stared at the jewellery set. But Vlad waved a dismissive hand.

"I won't take it back. I can't, not after the adjustments I made. So don't even think about refusing it," he told her.

"But..." she looked over at him and sighed at his expression. There was no arguing with him and it really was a beautiful set. She'd never owned anything so beautiful and she had to admit, a watch that could be used to speak to Vlad's super computer AI, A.N.I.I, wasn't easy to refuse. "Well...thank you, Vlad, it's beautiful," he said, finally.

"Well, that was easier than I anticipated," he replied, surprised. "Now, if I could get you both to put those away for later, we can move onto the main course," he added.

* * *

The rest of the dinner passed as uneventfully as dinner with a former arch enemy could, Danny supposed. The food was the best he and his sister could remember ever eating and Vlad even made them laugh several times, it wasn't nearly as bad as Danny had been expecting. That was until a man in a suit, bearing an embroidered name tag which read 'Richard' walked up to the table.

"Mr. Masters, sir?" he said.

"Yes, what it?" Vlad drawled, clearly disinterested in whatever the man had to say and also annoyed that he'd just been interrupted mid sentence.

"I'm sorry to disturb you and your guests sir, but I've been asked to deliver this to you from the manager, sir," he said, calmly. He handed a small piece of paper to Vlad whose expression darkened on reading it.

"I was told this had been handled," he ground out, scrunching up the paper in his fist.

"It has sir, and the...item in question...has been replaced. However, the manager feels that...given the cost of replacing such a valuable...item...payment should be made...in full."

"Now?" Vlad demanded, "In the middle of dinner?"

"My apologies, sir," the man inclined his head and he swallowed nervously.

"Fine," Vlad said. He took out his wallet from his pocket. "Does your manager have a preference? Cash or cheque?" he asked sarcastically.

"I believe cash would be preferred, sir," the man said, Vlad's sarcasm was lost on him.

Vlad handed him a considerable amount of money, "Keep the change," he said and waved the man away.

"Thank you, sir," the man nodded and made his escape.

"What's that all about?" Danny asked.

"Nothing," Vlad shook his head, putting away his wallet. "I accidentally broke one of their prized crystal vases last night, nothing to worry about. I gave him enough money to buy at least half a dozen of them."

That wasn't a total lie, Vlad though in his defence. The fact that it was a crystal mirror he'd shattered rather than a vase was a mere detail. And it hasn't exactly been an accident; he'd punched it after all. But they didn't need to know that.

Jazz had been staring at the amount of money that Vlad had just given away with such a blasé attitude, stunned. That money would have solved her parents money problems instantly. But then, so would the expensive jewellery set he'd just given her. But it had been a gift, she wasn't sure her conscience would let her pawn a meaningful gift to pay an electricity bill.

"What?" Vlad asked her, noticing that she was staring at him.

"I...just...that was...a lot of money is all," she managed to say.

"Only a few thousand," he shrugged and she choked.

"A...few...thousand," Jazz blinked.

"Yes?"

"Erm...ok..." she said, slowly picking up her glass to take a sip of water while he rolled his eyes at her.

"Will there be dancing again tonight, uncle Vlad?" Vikki asked him, eagerly.

"There could be dancing every night, Vikki, if I paid them, but otherwise they only open the ballroom on Mondays," Vlad answered.

"Dancing?" Jazz asked.

"As in...ballroom dancing?" Danny specified.

"Yes."

"Uncle Vlad is very good," Vikki told them. "He is teaching me," she said.

"Your mother should pay me for all the things you want to learn, dear girl," Vlad said. "I don't think we need to bother to send you to school, the only things you haven't asked me to start teaching are mathematics and science."

"Oh!"

"No, professor Vlad needs a break," he grinned and she sulked.

"Professor Vlad," Danny snorted.

"Well, I did help you with your homework, Daniel, I'd say it's an apt title, wouldn't you?" he asked. "Were your teachers sufficiently stunned that you handed anything in?"

"Erm...maybe," Danny pursed his lip.

"So, no dancing tonight?" Vikki asked.

"Not tonight," Vlad answered.

"Do you dance, Danny?" Vikki asked him.

"Err...not really...I mean...I guess normal dancing...at parties...when I actually get invited," he mumbled.

"Not ballroom dancing?"

"Err...no," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Uncle Vlad could teach you," she suggested and the man in question literally choked on his wine and Danny laughed.

"Uncle Vlad isn't a rental teacher, Vikki," Vlad managed to say after a moment.

"I err...don't really wanna learn, don't think I'd be any good," Danny replied, sheepishly

"What about you, Jazz?" Vikki asked.

"Never tried, but it always looked fun," she answered.

"Girls," Danny muttered into his glass, taking a sip and Rosalyn smiled.

* * *

After a while, they, like many other other guests moved to sit outside and enjoy the view of the stars and the scenery on the terrace, wrapped in warm coats.

"I suppose you two should be heading back to Amity Park, unless you'd rather spend the night here. It would be in considerable luxury," Vlad said to Danny and Jazz.

"Maybe some other time," Danny rolled his eyes.

"And I couldn't go to the library today, so I'll have to go early tomorrow morning," Jazz said.

"Suit yourselves," Vlad shrugged. "I'll drive you. Get your things and meet me out front," he said, "And don't get lost," he added before walking away.

"Jerk," Danny grumbled.

"Bye, Danny," Vikki hugged him and then Jazz, "Bye, Jazz. You will come back again, yes?" she asked, "When there is dancing. It will be fun."

"Erm...sure, if it's ok with Vlad," Jazz said.

"It will be," Vikki said with childish optimism, "You remember way to lobby? I can show you."

"We'll be fine," Jazz told her and the little girl waved them goodbye.

* * *

"That wasn't so bad," Danny remarked when they were out of earshot.

"It was nice," Jazz agreed, "And the dancing might be...fun."

"I'd end up tripping over my own feet. No thanks."

"Are you really sure we shouldn't ask Vlad about the..."

"I'm sure, Jazz. We'll sort it out."

"How?"

"I...I don't know, but we will. But if we can't...then I guess...maybe we can ask him."

"Yeah, okay," she nodded.

On seeing Vlad standing by the familiar black Mercedes, they made their way over him. "You didn't get lost, well done," he remarked.

"Ha hah," Danny grumbled and Vlad grinned.

"I'll teleport you as soon as we're clear of the hotel," he told them, getting into the car and they followed him. "Are you alright, Jasmine?" he asked her after starting the engine and driving away, "You seemed a little...distracted today."

Cursing the man for being so observant Jazz smiled and shook her head. "I'm fine I was just...surprised...about the jewellery is all. I really do like it," she replied.

"Oh, well...good," Vlad said.

Shortly after, Vlad stopped the car and took a good look around them. "That's far enough, I believe," he remarked and teleported them and the car back to the small space beside their house in Amity Park. It was dark enough that no one would see them and he placed them directly behind the Fenton RV which was large and bulky enough to hide them from view. It was better to be safe than sorry when teleporting, he'd learned that the hard way.

"Any reason y'couldn't have just teleported us after school?" Danny asked.

"And resist the opportunity to give your school friends something to gossip about tomorrow," Vlad grinned at them.

"Huh," the young hybrid muttered.

"I can make a habit out of it if you like," Vlad added.

"No thanks."

"Pity," he replied, getting out of the car. "Home sweet home," he said, mockingly and it seemed as though it was physically painful for him to say as he followed them into the house, closing the door behind him.

"Mom? Dad? You guys home?" Danny called.

Suddenly they heard an explosion from the lab and the three of them rushed down the stairs to find Jack and Maddie wafting away smoke from an innocuous looking device on a table.

"What happened?" Jazz asked them, "Are you okay?"

"Oh, hi kids," Jack beamed at them. "We're fine, the Fenton Zapper doesn't hurt humans. But I think we fixed it," he said.

"That was 'fixing' it?" Vlad scoffed.

"Vladdie! Come look!' Jack dragged him over to the table and Vlad, with a completely disinterested expression was pulled across the room.

The second he got within about two feet from it he recoiled when the small device, no bigger than a small book, exploded in a shot of green and zapped his right arm. It tore through his dress shirt and pieced his skin quite deeply in his opinion, drawing blood which he covered with his hand instantly. The Fenton Zapper was smoking again but it didn't shock anyone else.

"Argh!" he cried, leaping away and glaring at Jack.

"Hey, are you okay?" Danny asked, as he and his sister rushed towards him. Fortunately they were far away from the Fenton Zapper that neither Danny nor Vlad would be zapped now.

"Vlad?" Jazz asked him.

"I'm fine," the man snapped. "What on earth is that thing?!" he demanded.

"Well, that's weird," Jack scratched his head, "Its only meant to zap ghosts. Vladdie's not a ghost. Must be a crossed wire again, Maddie," he said. "You're okay, right V-man? Takes more than a little explosion to take you down right?" Jack declared slapping Vlad on the back and turning to his wife and their latest invention.

Vlad winced, both at Jack's comment and his ever forceful 'good natured' slap on the back. Luckily, neither Jack nor Maddie were looking to see Vlad's eyes glow red and a brief snarl of his lip showed his ghostly fangs.

"Vlad" Danny said, quietly. "Eyes," he whispered.

Vlad snarled but closed his eyes and when he opened them, the glow was gone. "Of course, Jack. After all, what's one more explosion?" he hissed, storming from the lab.

"Oh...bye V-man!" Jack waved.

"Vlad?" Maddie called after him, but didn't follow him. Her children, however did.

"Hey, wait up!" Danny exclaimed.

"What?" Vlad turned to them. They'd caught up to him in the living room and he wasn't far from the front door when he stopped.

"I just...are you okay? That looked like a nasty err...zap," Danny said.

"I'm fine," Vlad said. "It'll heal before I get back to the hotel. Though I'd steer clear of that thing if I were you. If it really did do what it's designed to and it wasn't a fluke, don't go near it, Daniel."

"Right," he nodded.

"You really are tempting fate living here, you know," Vlad told them before he wrenched open the door and left.

"So...that went well," Danny muttered when the door slammed shut again.


	4. Ghost of a Secret

**The Past is Present**

**Chapter 4: Ghost of a Secret**

* * *

The first thing Danny did that night was open the new watch that Vlad had given him. Both he and his sister sat in his room examining their watches to see how they worked.

"It says it'll work for us, no one else, if we just say 'A.N.I.I'," Jazz read the small note that she'd taken out of the box.

"Yes, Miss. Fenton?" the familiar computerised voice replied and Jazz nearly fell out of the bean bag she was sitting on. She almost dropped the watch too and had to juggle with it for a moment in order to save it from landing on the floor.

"Cool!" Danny exclaimed, "It works! It's like a spy watch."

"I'm not sure it was intended as such," A.N.I.I remarked.

"Well, it's still cool," he insisted.

* * *

Later that night, Danny flew out of the house and met his friends for their nightly ghost patrol. He was determined that one night, he'd find a ghost sneaking around, he just no idea where they all were in the meantime. Both Sam and Tucker yawned as they half heartedly flowed Danny through the streets.

"Can't we call it quits for tonight, dude?" Tucker sighed, "There's nothing out here."

"There's gotta be," Danny assured him.

Eventually, they wound up walking past a warehouse when Danny's Ghost sense went off.

"Hah! Finally!" he cried and flew eagerly to find the ghost that had set it off.

The three of them burst into the warehouse and found the Box Ghost rummaging through boxes of office supplies with a greedy grin.

"Oh, s'just you," Danny sighed, annoyed.

"Wha..." the ghost turned around to face them.

Sam and Tucker had their ecto weapons pointed at him but Danny's hands, which a moment ago had been glowing eagerly with ectoplasm ready for a fight, lost their glow and he face palmed instead.

"Great, just great," the boy muttered.

"Just me?" the ghost cried, outraged. "You should be trembling in fear, for I, the Box Ghost have come to gather weapons of doom!" he said.

"Err...bubble wrap?" Sam raised an eyebrow at the bundle of bubble wrap the ghost was comically attempting to hide behind his back.

"Oh man, the first ghost in almost a month and it just had to be you," Danny bemoaned. "Y'know, I never thought I'd miss Skulker, but at least he'd give a decent fight," he said.

"I will give you a fight, I, the Box Ghost will...err...ah..." the ghost stammered and scratched his head. "Buuuu...I am not here to fight," he then said, "I am only here for supplies!"

His fear of Vlad Plasmius' wrath was far greater than his willingness to fight Danny Phantom and of course, Vlad had ordered the ghosts not to attack Danny.

"You're...not here to fight?" Tucker reiterated.

"Not even a little bit?" Sam asked.

"Alright, spill. What the heck is going on with you guys?" Danny demanded, hovering closer to the ghost. "No fights in a month. Not one. What's going on? Is this some kind of truce thing I didn't know about? Like the Christmas truce?"

"Errr...not exactly," the Box Ghost replied. "Errr...beware!" he cried and then vanished along with the bubble wrap.

"What the heck just happened?" Sam asked.

"Something's totally going on," Danny said.

"Like what?" Tucker wondered.

"Maybe they're...building a super weapon in the Ghost Zone or they're..." Danny suggested.

"What? With bubble wrap? And you seriously think they'd all work together?" Sam scoffed, "No way."

"Good point," the hybrid mumbled. "Fine, I'm going into the Zone and I'm gonna find out once and for all. I can't take all this..."

"Peace and quiet?" Sam said, dryly.

"Let's just...go..." Danny said, glaring at her.

* * *

"Looks pretty peaceful in here too," Tucker said as they flew through the Ghost Zone in the Spectre Speeder.

"I know a guy who might help," Danny said. "Follow me," he added before he flew intangibly out of the Speeder and ahead into the swirling green mist.

"What guy?" Sam asked.

"He's errr...kinda a snow monster," Danny chuckled, nervously through the Fenton Phones that they used to keep in contact whenever they flew through the Ghost Zone. "Remember, I told you about him," he said.

"Frostbite?" Sam recalled.

"Yup."

"Why would he know? Doesn't he live like in the middle of nowhere?" Tucker wondered.

"Everywhere in here is the middle of nowhere, nothing stays in one place...erm..." Danny paused up ahead and looked around.

"Lost again?" the goth girl grinned.

"No! I'm just...getting my bearings. Oh, duh...I'm an idiot," he grumbled.

"No duh," Sam muttered.

"A.N.I.I?" Danny spoke to his wrist watch. He pulled back the seam of his sleeve and his glove to reveal the sleek new watch. The familiar floating blue hologram was projected in miniature above the device, spinning and whirling as though eager to answer.

"Yes, Mr. Fenton?" the AI answered instantly.

"Can you tell me which way to Frostbite's place?" he asked, "I can use Vlad's map right?"

"Of course," she answered and proceeded to give him detailed directions as he flew forwards and they followed.

"Man, I so need one o' those," Tucker lamented.

"I don't think Plasmius is just gonna hand those things out," Sam told him.

"Man," he sighed, slouching.

"Thanks, A.N.I.I," Danny smiled when he could see the vast snowy tundras and icy cliffs of the Far Frozen.

The hologram vanished and Danny flew down, landing gently in the snow. Sam expertly parked the Spectre Speeder and they shivered when the door opened.

"Y'should've warned us we'd end up hiking in the snow, dude," Tucker said.

"Errr...sorry," Danny rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "I'm sure Frostbite'll have something to keep you warm."

"Great One!" the snow monster ghost in question bellowed happily and came running up to meet them.

"Did he just call you..." Sam blinked.

"Great One?" Tucker finished for her.

"Erm...well..." Danny said.

"Ah, Great One, it has been too long," Frostbite declared as he lifted Danny into his large arms and hugged him.

"Hey...yeah, I missed you too...but...can't breathe..." Danny choked as the ghost hugged the life out of him.

"Aw, a boy and his snow monster," Sam scoffed and so did Tucker.

Frostbite gave a smile of apology and put the hybrid down carefully. "Ah, you brought friends?" he asked.

"Yeah, Sam and Tucker," Danny looked back at them.

"You appear cold," the ghost observed. "Come, we will have you warmed up in no time," he said, leading them through into one of the many ice caves.

* * *

"Ah," Frostbite let out a deep exhale when they were settled in the ghost frost monster equivalent of a living room. It was cosy all things considered. The cave was huge and the walls were carved with intricate images of the Ghost Zone. There were torches burning, illuminating the place though strangely, not melting the ice. Though it was ghost ice so it didn't have to adhere to normal rules. Sam and Tucker were huddled under warm fur blankets and sipping from mugs of hot cocoa.

"Who knew snow ghosts made a mean hot chocolate," Tucker remarked, amused.

"So...d'you know anything?" Danny promoted the ghost. He'd asked if he knew anything about why the ghosts hadn't been seeking him or Amity Park out.

"Well..." Frostbite said, his eyes darting from one side to the other, wondering if he should tell the truth.

"You **do** know, don't you?" the young hybrid exclaimed, "So...something's going on, right? Spill. What's happening? Is it bad?"

"Oh no, Great One," Frostbite said.

As he had done for the last twenty minutes, Tucker snorted at Danny being called 'Great One'. Frostbite had been eager to show them the murals of Danny and the Ghost King but it didn't make it any less amusing for them. Danny glared at his friend but Tucker just shrugged.

"Well? What is it?" Danny asked.

"Very well," the ghost acquiesced easily. "It was Plasmius," he said.

"Vlad?" Danny frowned, "As in he's...no...he wouldn't...he's not...planning stuff again, right?"

"Told you he'd never change," Sam shrugged, "Adults never change. They never understand. They never..."

"Sam," Danny stopped her.

"Right, sorry," the goth muttered, sheepishly.

"He ordered all who reside here to keep their distance from you, Great One, and that no harm should be done to you or your home. Least they face his wrath," Frostbite explained.

"...He did what? You're serious..." Danny managed to say after a moment of shock. His friends were staring open mouthed at the ghost, just as surprised as he was himself.

"I am, indeed and I too was surprised. He must've have gone to great lengths. We were all gathered in the castle of Dorothea and his order was not met with wide spread approval," he continued.

"I'll bet," the hybrid grumbled.

"But it is generally known that Plasmius is not a ghost to be underestimated. Am I to assume that his plan worked?"

"I err...I guess so," Danny answered, still shocked, "Erm...yeah...there hasn't been any attacks or well...anything for like a month."

"Ah, well this is wonderful news," Frostbite beamed happily. "Do you know, I never thought I would see the day that I stood beside Plasmius and agreed with him, yet I did so so when he announced that you were not to be harmed."

"Huh," Sam blinked, stunned.

"Errr..." Tucker muttered.

* * *

"So...you believe him?" Sam asked as they flew back through the Ghost Zone in the Spectre Speeder.

"Well, yeah, I mean, why would he lie? He and Vlad didn't really get off on the right foot when they met," Danny replied.

"Yeah, and he wouldn't lie to the 'Great One'," Tucker added.

"Good point," the goth girl snorted.

"Never gonna let me forget that one, are you?"

"Nope," Tucker grinned and then yawned. "Say, oh, Great One, can we call it a night now? I'm beat," he said.

"If I say 'yes' will you quit it with the jokes?"

"Nope," he reiterated and Danny sighed.

* * *

It came as no surprise that Danny was exhausted the following morning. After his friends had gone home, he'd stayed awake all night flying around the city and he could barely keep his eyes open through school. Sam and Tucker worked out a system of either nudging him awake when their teachers weren't looking, or of throwing small pieces of scrunched up paper at him if they could get away with it.

"It's your own fault," Sam shrugged when, at lunch time, the hybrid slouched over the table and closed his eyes.

"Yep," he agreed.

"Just make sure you're not falling asleep tomorrow. We got a party to go to," Tucker reminded him and Sam muttered under her breath.

"That's tomorrow?"

"Errr...yeah," Tucker said. "Tomorrow's Friday," he explained.

"There's a test tomorrow too," Sam reminded him. "And that's a little more important than that stupid party, which I'm still not going to by the way," she said.

"Oh, come on, Sam, how often do we get invited to parties?" Danny bemoaned.

"I don't want to go to their stupid parties, I never did. And you know all they care about is money...I mean, Plasmius' money. They don't care about you. If Plasmius told everyone he's disowning you from his will or whatever, they'd never talk to you again," the goth told him.

"...Yeah, I know," Danny grumbled.

"Then why do you still care about what they think?" she asked, annoyed.

"Because," Danny said as though that was enough.

"Because what?" Sam demanded.

"Just...because," he shrugged.

"It's **her** isn't it?" the goth rolled her eyes.

"What? Who?"

"Don't play dumb. It's just because Paulina's paying attention to you now. Isn't it?" she said.

"Well...errr..."

"Geez, you're such an idiot," Sam stormed off.

"What got into her?" Danny blinked, turning to Tucker who just rolled his eyes.

* * *

Rosalyn sighed and put her phone down onto the sofa where she sat. She and Valya had been sitting in her living room in her hotel room when she'd received a call from her husband's doctor. The man was an old family friend and, on Vladislav's orders, he'd just informed her that her husband had little under a month to live.

Having overhead only half of the conversation, Valya was confused but the older woman looked at her and spoke.

"He's dying," Roslyn told her.

"Who is dying? You said...is...uncle is dying?"

"Yes. I...knew he wasn't well, but I didn't think...just under a month apparently," the woman explained. "Mick...Dr. Porter says he's been asking for me. Well, demanding, actually. Both of us. Vlad and I."

"Vlad will not want to go," Valya remarked.

"No, he won't," she agreed, "But I'll have to."

"Why? Why bother after all he has done to you?"

"He's still my husband," Rosalyn shrugged.

"He is a horrible man," Valya said, grimacing, "He frightened my daughter."

"I know and I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry? You didn't do it."

"I didn't stop it either."

"How could you have? Is not your fault he is a cruel man. Where is Vlad? We should tell him," Valya remarked.

"He said he was going to a meeting," Rosalyn said.

* * *

In fact, Vlad was meeting with the Mayor of Amity Park, Ernesto Montez and of course, the Mayor had turned the whole thing into a P.R stunt to proclaim that he could still, despite the ghost attacks, draw influential businesses to the city. Vlad was used to the press, so naturally he took it all in his stride and with the money he'd already poured into the city, the Mayor was happy enough to leave him to do whatever he wanted to. They walked around the new office blocks that Vlad's company was developing and the new mall whilst being interviewed by the local news crew.

"...And we have Vlad Masters to thank for the much needed investment in our city. I'm sure we're all eagerly awaiting the completion date of the new Amity Park mega mall. This is Tiffany Snow reporting with Mayor Montez and Vlad Masters," the young woman said.

* * *

"Looks like the city loves Vlad now," Tucker said as they watched the news report on his PDA.

"Just great," Sam rolled her eyes.

"No ghosts. Vlad's Mr. Popular...Amity's gone crazy," Danny added.

"Nah. I think it's just Plasmius," the goth girl shrugged, "We all knew it'd happen eventually. He's finally snapped."

"I don't believe that Mr. Master's has suffered any such injury," A.N.I.I remarked from Danny's new wrist watch.

"Smart ass," Danny snorted. "Hey...speaking of Vlad going nuts...did you know anything about him telling the other ghosts to stay away from Amity Park?" he asked the AI.

"I knew," she replied.

"They why the heck didn't you say..."

"I was programmed not to."

"Never trust a computer," Sam said.

"I am not a computer. I am an AI."

"Hey, lay off the tech!" Tucker said, indignantly.

"It's seems remarkably easy for you to forget that I was designed and programmed by Mr. Master's for his own benefit, not for yours, Mr. Fenton," A.N.I.I remarked.

"That mean he's spying on us?" Sam asked. "It does, doesn't it? Danny, get rid of that thing," she said.

"No way, this watch is cool!" Danny cried.

"I did not mean that he intends to spy. I simply meant that my programming was added to this watch as a gift, but my essential programming remains the same. My priority is still my creator but I can also help you as a secondary function."

"As long as whatever I want doesn't mess with whatever Vlad wants?" Danny inferred.

"Correct," she answered.

"I still say he's spying on you," Sam shrugged.

"Well, maybe," Tucker said, "But that thing's way too cool to just get rid of."

"Here, here," Danny agreed.

"It appears, Miss. Manson, that you are outvoted," the AI said, sounding a little smug.

"Huh," Sam rolled her eyes. "A computer with a sense of humour, just what we need," she said.

* * *

Vlad soared through Skulker's island fast enough to leave smoke trails behind him and he landed with enough force to shake the ground.

"Geez, take it easy, Plasmius, I'm still fixing the place after your last tantrum," Skulker said, sounding concerned. "I don't need a giant hole in the ground as well," he added.

Vlad glared at him and the hunter coughed nervously.

"Well?" Plasmius demanded, "You said you had something to tell me about the Infi map. I'm a busy man, I have another meeting in exactly twenty minutes, so get on with it."

"I heard a rumour, that's all," Skulker said, holding up his hands hoping to placate the ghost. "Don't get your hopes up. I'm beginning to think this map of yours doesn't even exist."

"Oh, it exists, and I **will** find it," Vlad replied, stubbornly. "Now, what did you hear?" he asked.

"Well, I heard it from Bullet and he says he heard it from...erm..." the hunter began but one look from Vlad had him nervously glancing round and stammering. "Well, anyway...rumour has it, it was made by the Ancients..."

"The Ancients? As in the beings responsible for locking Pariah Dark away?" Vlad raised an eyebrow.

"That's what they say," Skulker nodded. "So if it really does exist, this map is really, really old. Old ghost artefacts are...well, they're bad news. Look what the Ring of Rage and the Crown of Fire did to the ghost king."

"Just because he was a little unhinged..."

"He's nuts! Even without the ring and crown but they didn't help. Honestly, I'd stay away from this thing, but anyway, the rumour says the Ancients gave it to a trusted friend to guard."

"And do we have any idea who this 'trusted friend' is?"

"None," Skulker shrugged, "But there can't be that many ghosts old enough to have been around when the Ancients were."

"Even if it is just a rumour it's all we have to go on for the moment. Unless you hear anything else, find out just how many ghosts we're talking about and bring me a list," Vlad ordered.

"Should I alphabetise it, too?" the hunter asked, sarcastically.

Vlad, clearly not amused, rolled his eyes and flew away, taking off with enough force to leave a small crater in the ground behind him. "Oh...great," Skulker bemoaned, throwing up his arms in frustration.

* * *

As Vlad flew leisurely through the Ghost Zone after talking with Skulker, his watch, much like the one he'd given to Danny, rang in lieu of his phone.

"Who is it A.N.I.I?" Vlad drawled.

"It's Mr. Fenton, sir and I don't believe you're going to like what he's going to say," she replied.

"What did you do?"

"I did nothing, sir," she replied.

"A likely story," he replied, dryly. "Alright, fine," he said and raised his wrist to look at the small screen which, as the AI had said, confirmed that it was Danny calling him. "What do you want, Daniel?" he asked. "If you're going to complain about being mobbed at school again, I'll save you the trouble. I still don't care and I'm not at all apologetic," he said.

"Wow, you're in a good mood," Danny said. "Now you mention it, I did get mobbed again, fruit loop," he added.

"If that's all..."

"No, it's not," the younger hybrid said before Vlad could end the call. "Err...so, Frostbite told me something really interesting," he said.

"What on earth makes you think that I would care?"

"Woooooooooooo," an eerie echo sounded as Vlad flew past a small group of shapeless green spectres with glowing eyes.

"Err...that wasn't you, right?" Danny asked.

"Of course not," Vlad snapped.

"Are you in the Ghost Zone?"

"And what was this 'interesting' thing that you felt you simply had to tell me about?" Vlad asked, ignoring the question.

"Smooth," Tucker muttered, which of course Vlad heard.

"I asked him if he knew why all the ghosts have been staying away from Amity Park," Danny said.

Vlad stopped flying and hovered stock still in the air, staring st his watch. "Oh, and what did the yeti have to say about that?" he asked, trying to sound disinterested.

"That you told them to," the boy said simply.

Silently cursing the snow ghost, Vlad grimaced and bared his fangs. He'd told the yeti to keep quiet about it but clearly, Frostbite's adoration of the 'Great One' knew no bounds.

"Me? Well, I'm flattered that he thinks I hold such sway over the ghosts, but I can assure you, I have absolutely no idea..."

"Uh huh," Danny muttered, "Right, sure."

"You'll believe a yeti over your own godfather, I'm hurt, Daniel," Vlad said.

"Spill it, Plasmius, you're totally up to something," Sam said and he rolled his eyes.

"Even if I was, and I'm not saying that I had anything to do with this, surely you realise that I find you about as threatening as wet tissue paper," Vlad drawled. "Why in the name of evil would you think that threatening me would induce me to admit to anything?"

"Urgh," the goth girl muttered.

"Wet tissue paper," Tucker laughed at her and she punched him in the arm. "Ow! Hey!" he cried.

"So...you didn't tell all the ghosts to stay away from Amity and leave me alone?" Danny asked Vlad.

"Why would I?"

"I don't know..." Danny said, frustrated. "But why would he lie about it? I mean, you two don't exactly get on so why would he admit you've done something...good...unless you had?"

"What makes you think it was done with 'good' intentions?"

"So you did do it?"

"Hypothetically," Vlad corrected.

"Well, you were the one who told me not to spend so much time fighting ghosts and I need to up my grades and stuff and now all of a sudden, hey look, no more ghost attacks."

"Coincidence," Vlad said, dismissively.

"Sure."

"You know I don't do anything that doesn't benefit me, this doesn't. Therefore, I had nothing to do with it."

"But..."

"Awfully sorry, dear boy, but there's a behemoth blocking my way and he looks rather angry. I think, possibly he's looking for a rematch. Ta," he said, ending the call.

"Very convincing, sir," A.N.I.I remarked.

"Shut up," Vlad snapped and flew onwards again.

* * *

A.N. I made up the rumour about the Ancients making the Infi Map and giving it to a friend to guard. I dont think we get told where it came from, only that Frostbite and his people have 'guarded it for millennia.'


End file.
